Medieval Folk Tales for Children

Dave Tonge adapts 22 medieval folk tales, arranging them around the seven deadly sins: envy, gluttony, lust, sloth, pride, greed and wrath. The cast includes proud princes, troubled doctors, grasping merchants, meddlesome cooks, heroic hounds, cunning foxes and people who encounter devils, death or strange acts of magic.

Stories such as ‘Of Medicine and Murder’, ‘Of the Friar and the Fart’ and ‘Of the Wolf in the Well’ combine dark humour, moral consequences and earthy medieval storytelling. Short historical explanations place the tales against life between 500 and 1,000 years ago, while illustrations inspired by illuminated manuscripts reinforce the period setting. The collection presents traditional stories as lively material for reading aloud and discussing.